The Real Deal Los Angeles

The Real Deal Los Angeles

The lower-priced store at 2520 Glendale Boulevard will open next month

May 02, 2016 02:00PM

(credit: Food Navigator USA)

Silver Lake is getting the Whole Foods treatment — only cheaper.

The northeast L.A. neighborhood is gearing up for the grand opening of the first Whole Food’s 365 market, a more affordable and, in turn, millennial friendly version of the original upscale grocery store.

Located at 2520 Glendale Boulevard, the 28,000-square-foot store will be substantially smaller than the average 45,000-square-foot Whole Foods. It will include a coffee and craft beer bar; a tea station; a vegan restaurant and grocery delivery options, presumbly for the millennial who doesn’t want to leave the pod.

The company announced Monday it would open a second 365 location in Lake Oswego, Oregon in July.

The rollout of these smaller and cheaper markets is aimed at mitigating the increasing competition in the organic food market.

“This opens up a new segment of the market,” 365 president Jeff Turnas tells Fortune. “There’s a piece of the business we’re not getting.”

According to Turnas, the company plans to cut the expenditure of 365 stores by using a standard store format, thereby needing less from architects.

The new stores will all have one entrance and eight end caps. Products will be displayed on low fixtures, and though they will be omitting butchers and cheesemongers, the 365 stores will keep Whole Food’s signature prepared food bars. [Fortune] — Cathaleen Chen